Monday, February 16, 2015

The spiral of life keeps going, and with itself, it makes sure that you keep going. In just a year or two, things change to the extent that you look back at the time gone by, wondering if the person who was living this life at that time, was you or someone you relate to remotely, or some one completely unknown altogether.

There was this fellow I knew once, just a couple of years back. He was in college then, about to complete the final hurdle of the four-year race of a Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering. The decision to enter into this race, had been a rather spur-of-the-moment type of a reflex, but then the indecision surrounding that makes for another story that I'll get back to share with you later. He was a very chirpy person it seemed, talking and talking the whole day, his world seemed to be centered on his friends, with whom he'd spend a major part of his day, the smiles and laughs the friends shared, seemed to push away any trouble that might be headed in their way.

The best thing I remember about that person is the confidence he effused, the ease with which he spoke to anyone and everyone, the positivity that he had about what his future beheld for him. He could just go upto anyone, stand in front of a crowd, and go on speaking his mind and heart out, knowing that people would listen. He had his mind fixed on doing MBA at that time, and couldn't care less of the Engineering Degree he was going to complete, and I really thought his positive outlook and confidence would take him a long way in life.

The way things go with life, you never know how a toss of a coin can change the way you look at this beautiful misery bequeathed upon us all. I met that person again a few days back, or should I say that I just met a shadow of the person I once knew.

The smile from the face was missing, the confidence had given way to a more held-back approach, an almost shy outlook to the once effusive demeanor that used to be a part of who he was. The MBA plan hadn't worked out as he had imagined, and the whole procedure of sitting through tests and going through interviews actually left quite a scar on his mental bearing.

And then there was the job that he had to take up, because there was really nothing else he could do, and then again the continuous displeasure of doing something that he never wanted to do.

It was disheartening to see the transition of this once confident center-stage actor, into a mannequin that would remain inconspicuous to the crowd, no matter where it was kept on the stage.

The river of life, has to go through plains and mountains, and there have to be waterfalls in between, what is important is that even after falling through hundreds of meters, the river continues to flow through the plains, watering fields of brown, making them green once again.

I just hope that my friend too finds out that everybody has ups and downs, greens and browns, water and sand, it is just the fact that the people who become successful are those who don't let any pitfall become the final fall, but in fact treat it like a crater on an otherwise shining life.

It is only when we don't let the gray part of our lives affect us, do we realize how colourful our life ought to be.

It is only when you become comfortable with your shortcomings, that you discover something called inner peace (Kungfu-panda fame), and it is only then that you become more confident of who you really are, and I just wish that my friend finds his inner peace, because in the end there's nothing special that he needs to have, it is just he himself that can make his life special.